U. S. Blocks U. N. Investigation Into Gaza Violence

May 15, 2018

It was not clear if any other Security Council member state besides the U. S. rejected the draft statement.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty ImagesThe U. S. on Tuesday blocked a United Nations Security Council statement seeking an investigation into the violence that broke out on the Israel-Gaza border Monday.According to The Independent, the statement expressed “outrage and sorrow” over the deaths of dozens of Palestinians, who were shot by the Israeli military during protests following the opening of a new U. S. embassy in Jerusalem, and called for an “independent and transparent investigation” into the deaths.It also called on “all sides to exercise restraint with a view to averting further escalation and establishing calm.”It was not clear if any other Security Council member state besides the U. S. rejected the draft statement. A Security Council meeting, called by Kuwait, will be held on Tuesday to discuss the violence.Both the meeting and the proposed resolution come after tens of thousands of Palestinians protested the opening of the embassy, which solidifies President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.The death toll along the border reached the largest number since the 2014 Gaza war. At least 772 other Palestinian protesters were wounded, with 86 in serious or critical condition, the Gaza Health Ministry reported.On Monday, White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said that the responsibility for the deaths “rests squarely with Hamas,” and said the Trump administration supports Israel’s “right to defend itself.”“We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Hamas is the one that, frankly, bears responsibility for the entire situation right now,” he said .U. S. allies in Europe, like France and Britain, have openly condemned Israel’s response to the protesters.Alistair Burt, the United Kingdom’s minister for the Middle East, said Israel should “show greater restraint,” but agreed with the view that it should have its right to defend its borders.French President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to discuss “the violence of Israeli armed forces against demonstrators.”Kelcey Caulder is a News Fellow at IJR. Previously, she worked with the web team at the Los Angeles Times and led the Student Press Law Center’s campa… more